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The Grange Hill gang are headed for the big screen after almost 15 years off air, the series creator Sir Phil Redmond has confirmed.
Before its lengthy hiatus, the popular BBC series ran from 1879 to 2008, and was renowned for tackling realistic issues like racism, drug abuse, HIV, mental illness, and teen pregnancy.
Teasing the return of the beloved show to a big screen setting, creator Phil Redmond said that the 21st century revamp will “take a look at the way Britain is now, not the way policymakers would like us to think it is”.
Over the years, Phil Redmond has been open about his hopes to get a Grange Hill reboot off the ground, and in a recent discussion with BBC Breakfast, he revealed that the plans were already in motion.
He said: “Nearly every single day someone says to me: ‘Why don’t bring you bring it back? Do something.'” And he did just that!
However, Sir Phil added that with great power comes great responsibility, and the pressure of getting the Grange Hill reboot right has been immense.
He said: “If my hair could get any greyer it would do. We’ve only just started like working through the script. We go into production this year for release next year, so if anybody wants to form an orderly queue in the casting line, they can just wait a couple of months, that’d be great.”
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Much like the original BBC series, Phil promised that the Grange Hill reboot will work to tackle modern issues in British society.
Asked how he planned to go about it 15 years later, the creator said: “You just go out as honestly as you can and try and reflect society as it is, trying to be as truthful as you can within the bounds of fiction, and do the research properly.
“One of the things I’ve always done is work with great young teams to actually deliver the vision so we’ll just take a look at the way Britain is now, not the way policymakers would like us us to think it is.
“We will take a realistic view of what education is like now and what that means to kids going through it.”
We can't say exactly where you might catch Grange Hill film in a year's time, as Sir Phil admitted he isn't sure yet himself!
He said: “We’d love it to go into the cinema and just have that great experience, but of course, we’re in the streaming age now. So who knows where it’ll end up? But I think we’ll probably do that great thing and have a great premiere, walk down the red carpet and see all the old faces and things like that. But on what platform it eventually settles on, who knows?”
The original series was a launchpad for many British stars including Georgia May Foote (Coronation Street), Sean Maguire (Once Upon A Time), and Todd Carty (Eastenders), so fingers crossed we might see some familiar faces on our screens in the near future!
Featured Image Credit: BBCTopics: TV And Film, BBC
Ali Condon